Pointing at spatial objects and features with a handheld device to retrieve information about that object or feature stored in a computer-based system database is becoming increasingly popular predominantly in domains such as location-based services (LBS), gaming, or augmented reality. The current generation of handheld devices, such as cellular phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs), include all the components and sensors required to derive the system user's position and direction of pointing, as well as the modules for wireless communications with computer-based information system databases.
Sensor readings acquired by this current generation of handheld devices could be transmitted to certain services or databases, such as spatial databases. In the case of spatial databases, this data will be used to identify and retrieve from such databases information about the object or feature to which the handheld device is currently being pointed. The information that is retrieved will be processed by the wirelessly connected computer-based system and transmitted back to the handheld device, where it will be used to answer a system user's question such as, “What is that object (or feature) over there?”.
The set of questions that may be answered using the information that is retrieved from databases described above based on the pointing-at approach has been restricted to properties and attributes related to one explicit object. More specifically, the retrieved information is restricted to a single object at which the handheld device is being pointed. Noting this, answers to questions such as “What is left of that building over there?” or “Are there any hospitals behind that building over there?” or even “What is to the North of that object over there?” are not considered to be included in the retrieved information.
It would be highly desirable to have a system and method that would be able to answer questions relating to a scene presented to a system user that would address more than just the one object or feature being pointed at. A system and method that provides such capabilities would also increase the usability of pointing devices. Further, a system and method that had these capabilities would enhance the interaction between a system user and an expert system (e.g., GIS) relating to location-based services, from which not only information about single objects may be obtained, but also uses a reference object or feature to identify other objects, for example, having the capability to define and identify “The building to the left of that building!”. It would also be desirable to have a system and method that could be used to initiate an action or launch a service associated with the object or feature simply by directly or indirectly pointing at the reference object or feature in order to identify the object of interest.
The present invention provides a system and method to overcome the problems of pointing systems of the past.